1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to cosmetological equipment, and in particular, to hair relaxant applicators.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
Cosmetologists frequently apply a hair relaxant treatment to a client's hair in order to permanently rearrange the basic structure of over-curly hair into a straight form. In the trade, the terms "chemical hair relaxing" and "chemical hair straightening" are used interchangeably to refer to the process of permanently removing waves or curls from human hair. Heretofore, a bucket of hair relaxant would be prepared and placed near the client at a treatment station, and the cosmetologist would either dip a comb in the prepared hair relaxant solution or similarly use a brush and finger method to obtain a quantity of the relaxant solution, then apply the extremely viscous solution to the client's hair. Such an imprecise method of application frequently applies too much hair relaxant, thereby causing waste and expense, and does not produce a uniform application of the hair relaxant, thereby producing damaging results.
Also, as a client's hair grows, the cosmetologist must treat the new growth of hair by applying relaxant only to this new growth in a "retouch" treatment, typically every six to eight weeks. Using heretofore known methods, such as the comb or brush and finger methods, to perform the retouch application of hair relaxant, it is almost impossible to avoid overlapping retreatment of previously treated hair, thus causing overprocessing of that hair.
Furthermore, hair relaxant solution is extremely caustic, typically being a prepared mixture of sodium hydroxide, and must be applied only for a period of carefully timed duration, typically fifteen minutes, before the treated hair must be neutralized. Because of the very high alkaline content of sodium hydroxide, extreme care must be exercised in its use. Prior methods of hair treatment are very time consuming, as they require frequent trips to a supply bucket of hair relaxant for scooping or dipping onto a comb or brush, and therefore cause those sections of the scalp treated last to not have had the same duration of treatment as those sections treated first when the neutralizer is applied. Additionally, the carrying of caustic hair relaxant from a supply bucket to the head of a client frequently permits some hair relaxant to fall onto the client's face or eyes, thereby potentially causing injury.
It is therefore desirable to have a hand-held hair relaxant applicator apparatus for applying a controlled flow of hair relaxant to a person's hair. Such an apparatus should be resistant to the caustic and corrosive properties of the hair relaxant solution, and be able to permit the rapid and even application of the extremely viscous hair relaxant solution to the person's hair while maintaining precise control of the application of the hair relaxant, thereby providing a substantially uniform treatment, both in duration and in amount, to the hair.
A preliminary patentability search in Class 132, subclasses 112 through 114; Class 401, subclasses 118, 119, 150, and 176 through 179; and Class 222, subclass 326, produced the following patents, some of which may be relevant to the present invention: Underwood, U.S. Pat. No. 3,429,642, issued Feb. 25, 1969; Fisher, U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,671, issued Dec. 22, 1981; Duncan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,441, issued Mar. 15, 1983; Sigmund et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,376, issued Jun. 3, 1986; and Gakhar et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,984, issued Jul. 2, 1991.
While each of the above patents disclose various hinging apparatus or interlocking hanging systems, none disclose or suggest the present invention. More specifically, none of the above patents disclose or suggest a hair relaxant applicator apparatus for applying a controlled flow of hair relaxant to a person's hair, said apparatus comprising a supply unit, said supply unit comprising: a tubular supply container having a longitudinal bore therethrough, said bore terminating in an opening through a first end of said supply container and terminating in a mouth through a second end of said supply container; a piston slidingly and sealingly engaging said longitudinal bore, said piston being longitudinally reciprocable within said bore; a piston rod having a first and a second end, said piston rod being attached at said first end of said piston rod to said piston and with said second end of said piston rod reciprocatingly extending out of said bore through said mouth of said supply container; an electric motor having a rotating shaft; power supply means for supplying a source of power to said motor; and gearing means for translating the rotation of said shaft of said electric motor into reciprocating motion of said piston rod through said longitudinal bore; said apparatus further comprising an applicator brush remote from said supply unit, said applicator brush having a passageway therein and further having an orifice in communication with said passageway, said applicator brush comprising: a head portion, said head portion having a plurality of bristles extending outwardly from an outer surface of said head portion, and further having a plurality of openings through said outer surface adjacent said bristles, said openings being in communication with said passageway; and a handgrip portion adjacent said head portion for holding by an operator; and, said apparatus still further comprising tubing means for piping said hair relaxant from said opening through said first end of said supply container to said orifice of said applicator brush.
Underwood, U.S. Pat. No. 3,429,642, describes a hair treatment applicator having a brush with a passageway therein having openings thereto at the base of bristles in the brush. A piston, moved by pressurized inert gas, forces treatment liquid from a remote reservoir through tubing to the passageway of the brush. Unlike the present invention, which uses a motor-driven piston and gearing means, the Underwood device uses pressurized inert gas to drive the piston, thereby giving a lesser degree of control over the flow of the treatment liquid than does the present invention.
Fisher, U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,671, describes a caulking gun dispenser having a motor-powered, gear-driven plunger driven by a cordless motorized screwdriver. Similarly, Gakhar et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,984, describes a motor-driven caulking gun attachment having a threaded pusher rod that is reciprocated by a gear-reducer. Unlike the present invention, both devices use a cartridge for holding the caulking to be extruded, not hair relaxant, and neither has an applicator brush for applying the hair relaxant. As a further distinction, the plunger or pusher of neither device sealingly engages the walls of the caulking cartridge.
Duncan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,441, describes a hair treatment applicator in which a remote heater/blower unit forces heated air into a chamber within a hand-held applicator to melt viscous hair treatment preparations therein and cause them to flow through openings in the applicator. The present invention does not use forced heated air, and avoids heating the hair relaxant which should not be applied hot or warm.
Sigmund et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,376, describes a hand-held hair dye applicating apparatus having a slot-shaped nozzle surrounding a plurality of bristles through which hair dye liquid emerges, as well as a hair-separating tip. A fourth embodiment, shown in FIGS. 9-11, describes a telescoping piston rod with threaded sections that is caused to telescope by an electric motor within the hand-held apparatus. In contrast, while the present invention also uses an electric motor, the motor is remote from the applicator brush in a supply unit that is connected to the applicator brush by tubing, and the motor does not drive a telescoping piston rod.